Well Attended LABACE Exceeds Expectations

The August 13 to 15 Latin American Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (Labace) featured 110 exhibitors, 22 more than in 2008, and more than 60 aircraft in the static display, compared with 48 the previous year, underscoring evidence that the economies in Latin America, and Brazil’s in particular, appear stable and even growing. Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral, Brazil’s general aviation association and the Labace organizing body, expanded the aircraft ramp space by 30 percent. Bombardier was present with its new Learjet 85 full-scale fuselage mockup and for the first time a pavilion. Gulfstream brought a G450 and G550. Dassault came with a new Falcon 7X. Cessna brought its Citation X and Sovereign. Hawker Beechcraft came with everything from Hawkers to King Airs, and Lider Aviação, Hawker Beechcraft’s agent in Brazil, showed off the Hawker 900XP and Hawker 750. Embraer, representing the host country, had on display for the first time a Phenom 300 with a finished interior and for the first time at Labace its new Legacy 500 fuselage mockup.